V8 NATIONAL LOTTERY ANNUAL REVIEW A4_DIGITAL 2025 by National Lottery Good Causes

National Lottery Promotions Unit Annual Review and Accounts 2024-25

Annex A: The National Lottery promotions unit strategic framework 2024-27 49

Annex B: The National Lottery promotions unit 2025/26 high level plan and milestones

INTRODUCTION

NLPU: WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO

The National Lottery Promotions Unit (NLPU) raises positive public awareness of National Lottery funding towards good causes, thereby contributing to the overall health of The National Lottery brand.

Through the One National Lottery approach (an agreed internal protocol within The National Lottery family to ensure consistency of messaging and promotion), the NLPU delivers campaigns that encompass traditional and digital media which unite the National Lottery family, raise public awareness, and thank National Lottery players for funding thousands of incredible projects across the UK.

The NLPU is a joint venture between the 12 National Lottery distributors, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the current operator, Allwyn. Six of the 12 Distributors and The Gambling Commission (who license The National Lottery to comply with any regulations made by the Secretary of State under Section 12 of the National Lottery Act) also sit on the NLPU's Management Board to make decisions and steer strategy.

At the heart of the National Lottery family the NLPU is uniquely placed to lead and drive programmes of work forward in a way that nobody else in The National Lottery family can.

INTRODUCTION A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

LEADING THE CHARGE:

Celebrating Three Decades Of Transforming Lives

As Chair of the NLPU Management Board, it gives me immense pride to present the National Lottery Promotions Unit 2024-2025 Annual Review and Accounts during what has been a truly landmark year for The National Lottery.

For three decades, The National Lottery has been an extraordinary force for good across the United Kingdom, raising over £50 billion for good causes and supporting more than 650,000 projects nationwide. This remarkable milestone has been a central focus of our work this year, as we've celebrated the transformative impact National Lottery funding has had on communities throughout the UK since that first draw in 1994.

Celebrating Three Decades of Impact

As we reflect on this landmark year marking three extraordinary decades of The National Lottery, the NLPU's strategic approach of delivering "fewer, bigger and better" campaigns has yielded impressive results, demonstrating the true power of focused execution and collaborative effort across The National Lottery family. This year, the NLPU has delivered exceptional results against its strategic objectives, achieving a 130% increase in media coverage and 101% increase in audience reach compared to the previous year, despite running two fewer campaigns.

Outstanding Campaign Results

Its flagship campaigns have showcased the NLPU's ability to create meaningful impact at scale whilst telling compelling stories that resonate with audiences throughout the UK. The NLPU's 30th Birthday celebration stands as a testament to its capabilities— generating nearly 8,000 pieces of media coverage with a reach exceeding 2.17 billion people. This, alongside its Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games campaign, which delivered 54,000 pieces of coverage reaching 2.66 billion people, and National Lottery Open Week have collectively generated nearly 65,000 pieces of media coverage with a reach of 6.8 billion.

Meeting Strategic Objectives

The NLPU has made significant strides across all its strategic objectives. According to Allwyn's statistics, 61.7% of respondents acknowledge The National Lottery "contributes to good causes"—a solid foundation of public goodwill to which the NLPU's campaigns have made a valuable contribution. Allwyn's research shows an impressive overall brand positivity

INTRODUCTION A

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

rating of 56.2%, with the NLPU's promotional activities playing an important role alongside other factors in highlighting the transformative impact of funding.

The digital transformation of the unit continues to gather momentum, with social media impressions reaching 10 million and engagements surpassing 710,000. This growth reflects its commitment to reaching diverse audiences through innovative digital channels and partnerships. The Game Changers podcast achieved 92,000 downloads—double the previous season—rising to #4 in Apple's UK Society and Culture chart. Meanwhile, the NLPU data team has made significant strides in enhancing the quality and functionality of the National Lottery Grants database, providing more valuable insights into the impact of funding across the UK.

Strengthening Key Relationships

Parliamentary engagement has been particularly successful, with more than 120 MPs attending the NLPU's Westminster drop-in event. Activities in Stormont, Holyrood and the Senedd have strengthened connections with elected representatives across the devolved nations, ensuring decision-makers understand the profound impact National Lottery funding has in their constituencies.

Strategic Partnerships

The NLPU's partnership with Allwyn as the new licence holder continues to strengthen, supporting their vision of a modernised National Lottery that increases the amount directed to good causes. Since their appointment as the new licence holder in 2024, the NLPU have forged a productive relationship with Allwyn during this monumental year for The National Lottery. Working closely with Allwyn and the wider National Lottery family, the NLPU will enhance data sharing initiatives and grant acknowledgement practices to further support brand growth.

Looking Ahead

Whilst the NLPU has achieved impressive results, we recognise there remains work to do. It is implementing a robust plan to enhance measurement of campaign outcomes and impact, ensuring it can clearly

demonstrate return on investment and strategic value. As we look ahead to 2025-26, exciting initiatives await including the "Next Generation of Game Changers" programme, a sport campaign celebrating the UEFA Women's Euros, Women's Rugby World Cup, and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the return of National Lottery Open Week, building on this year's record-breaking success with over 800 offers nationwide.

Acknowledgements

None of this would be possible without effective collaboration with members of the wider National Lottery family who contribute these amazing stories and projects. I extend my sincere gratitude to the NLPU team for their ongoing commitment, creativity, and dedication to showcasing how The National Lottery is 'changing lives every day.'

Most importantly, I would like to thank National Lottery players who have raised more than £50 billion for good causes in the UK since 1994, transforming lives and contributing to the arts, sport, heritage, and communities across the nation. Each week, their participation generates an astounding £30 million for good causes, helping to build local communities, power sports teams, protect the environment, unleash creative talent, support the elderly, and unlock youthful potential.

As we build on three decades of transformative impact, the NLPU remains fully focused on its mission: continuing to tell the extraordinary stories of National Lottery funding and its impact on people's lives throughout the UK. The journey ahead promises to be as remarkable as the one we've travelled so far.

Darren Henley, CEO

Arts Council England, Chair of the National Lottery Promotions Unit Management Board

PART ONE

2024/25 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

Our 2024-25 Objectives

1 To increase awareness of the breadth, scale, and impact of National Lottery funding across the UK.

2 To promote the values of The National Lottery and increase positivity towards the good causes The National Lottery supports at a local and national level.

3 To reach as many people as possible in the UK in telling that story.

4 To champion One National Lottery best practice across The National Lottery family.

PART ONE

2024/25 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

NLPU Strategic Framework and Plan

(see Annex page 48)

The entire portfolio of campaigns delivered by the NLPU in the last financial year is underpinned by its Strategic Framework and Plan 202427 and Strategic Plan 2024-25. The activities were encompassed by the Management Board priorities identified. Significant progress has been made against the objectives and Management Board priorities in the plan last year. This annual review highlights how the NLPU has delivered against them.

Review of the Framework and planning for 2025–27 and beyond

After reviewing the existing framework and plan, the NLPU has developed its new Strategic Framework for 2025-27 (see Annex A page 48).

As part of this ongoing strategic planning process, the NLPU is currently undergoing a review commissioned by Allwyn to examine current ways of working and explore opportunities for enhanced collaboration between Allwyn, the NLPU and the National Lottery family. This review, which commenced in early 2025, will assess the NLPU's structure, operations, and strategic alignment with the Fourth National Lottery Licence objectives, ensuring the unit remains optimally positioned to deliver impactful campaigns and strengthen public awareness of good causes funding.

2024/25 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

4 CAMPAIGNS

64,942 PIECES OF MEDIA COVERAGE

6.8 BILLION MEDIA REACH

10 MILLION SOCIAL MEDIA IMPRESSIONS

710,000

SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENTS

PART ONE

2024/25 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

Traditional Media

The NLPU team achieved remarkable media coverage in 2024-25, generating 64,942 pieces across national and regional outlets with a combined reach of 6.8 billion throughout four campaigns. This represents a substantial 130% increase in coverage and 101% increase in audience reach compared to 2023-24 (when they secured 28,215 pieces).

The team delivered these outstanding results through several standout initiatives:

• The landmark 30th Birthday celebration and the launch of Game Changers

• The most successful Open Week to date

• The build-up and delivery of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games

These key moments captivated media attention and substantially elevated public engagement with The National Lottery, reinforcing its position as a vital institution in British society.

Digital Media

Digital channels continue to represent a consistent growth area for the NLPU. The team's digital strategy has proven highly effective, expanding its reach and resonating strongly with target audiences. They maintain a robust content plan that produces engaging public-facing assets throughout the year, working collaboratively with the wider National Lottery family and external partners across all platforms.

Performance highlights (1 April 2024–31 March 2025): 10M TOTAL IMPRESSIONS

710,000 TOTAL ENGAGEMENTS

PART ONE

2024/25 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

Three-year performance trend: 2024-25 2023-24 2022-23 2021-22 10M* 16.1M 8.8M 4.7M

710K 266,182 1.4M 381,650

*Data sourced from Meta Business Suite (paid Instagram and Facebook advertisements) and Sprout Profile Performance analytics.

IMPRESSIONS

ENGAGEMENTS

The now annual Crossed Finger Selfie Day achieved remarkable visibility, trending within the Top 10 on X (formerly Twitter) for a substantial portion of the day. The team also cleverly leveraged collaborative posts on Instagram to extend reach, tapping into partners' audiences to amplify content.

It should be noted that while this year's impression figures appear lower than the previous year, they are significantly underreported due to changes in social media platforms and data access limitations. These restrictions have hampered the ability to track comprehensive digital performance metrics, meaning the true reach and impact are substantially higher than the figures suggest.

PART ONE

2024/25 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

MEASURING SUCCESS:

The National Lottery's Growing Public Perception

Tracking brand impact and public sentiment

The NLPU's comprehensive promotional initiatives have contributed significantly to enhancing public perception of The National Lottery (TNL) brand and deepening awareness of its societal impact. Independent research commissioned by Allwyn, the National Lottery operator, throughout 2024 has demonstrated encouraging results that validate the effectiveness of various initiatives, to which the NLPU's campaigns have made a valuable contribution.

Positive trends in public perception

Research data provided by Allwyn for the full calendar year 2024 (January to December), based on a robust sample size of 12,000 adults aged 18+, reveals strong public recognition of The National Lottery's societal contributions:

61.7% OF RESPONDENTS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT TNL "CONTRIBUTES TO GOOD CAUSES"

45.9% BELIEVE TNL "FUNDS GOOD CAUSES RELEVANT TO ME"

44% RECOGNISE THAT TNL "FUNDS GOOD CAUSES CLOSE TO ME"

56.2% OF RESPONDENTS EXPRESSED OVERALL BRAND POSITIVITY – A STRONG RESULT

PART ONE

2024/25 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

These figures, as reported by Allwyn, represent a solid foundation of public goodwill toward The National Lottery. While multiple factors influence these metrics, the NLPU's promotional activities have likely played an important role in helping achieve these positive results. The particularly strong positivity rating of 56.2% reflects the combined impact of various initiatives, including the NLPU's campaigns that have highlighted the transformative effect of National Lottery funding on communities throughout the UK.

Evolving Measurement Framework

It is important to note that these figures provided by Allwyn are not directly comparable with previous years' data. In 2024, The National Lottery operator implemented significant changes to its research methodology, including adjustments to survey structure, question formulation, research approach, and panel provider for sampling. Allwyn's research provider has explicitly advised that direct year-on-year comparisons with previous datasets would not be methodologically sound.

This refined approach to measuring public sentiment provides a more nuanced understanding of how The National Lottery is perceived across different demographic groups and regions. It also establishes a robust baseline for future tracking, allowing the NLPU to monitor trends more effectively moving forward.

Strategic Implications

The data from Allwyn indicates that the NLPU's flagship campaigns in 2024-25–have successfully contributed to reinforcing the connection between playing The National Lottery and supporting worthwhile causes across the UK.

The strong recognition that TNL "contributes to good causes" (61.7%) demonstrates that the core message

of The National Lottery's societal impact is resonating with the public. This positive result stems from multiple factors, with the NLPU's strategic communications programmes playing an important supporting role alongside Allwyn's own marketing activities and the work of other National Lottery partners.

Meanwhile, the substantial percentages acknowledging personal relevance (45.9%) and local impact (44.0%) suggest that efforts to highlight hyper-local funding stories–an approach championed by the NLPU–have been effective in making The National Lottery's contributions feel tangible and meaningful to individuals.

As the NLPU continues to evolve its promotional strategies, these metrics from Allwyn will serve as valuable indicators of success, guiding future campaigns and initiatives designed to further strengthen public perception of The National Lottery brand and enhance awareness of its transformative impact on communities throughout the United Kingdom.

PART ONE

2024/25 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

Evolving how our campaigns are evaluated and measured

Building on this enhanced measurement approach by Allwyn, the NLPU is also exploring how to implement the UK Government's Government Communication Service (GCS) Evaluation Cycle methodology across all its campaigns. This represents a significant evolution from traditional output-focused metrics towards a more sophisticated outcomes-based evaluation framework that aligns with government best practice standards.

The UK Government's GCS Evaluation Cycle is the official framework designed to guide communicators through comprehensive evaluation processes. It encompasses six key stages: Inputs (evidence-based planning), Outputs (audience experience), Outtakes (audience perceptions), Outcomes (audience behaviour), Impact (organisational objectives), and Learning & Innovation (continuous improvement). This cyclical approach positions evaluation as an intrinsic element of communication planning from the outset, enabling real-time optimisation and evidence-based decision making across government communications.

The NLPU recognises that implementing this methodology will move the organisation beyond simple metrics like media coverage and reach to focus on demonstrating tangible behavioural change and attitudinal shifts amongst target audiences. The comprehensive evaluation of the 30th Birthday campaign is serving as a pilot study for exploring how GCS principles can be applied to National Lottery promotional activities, with early findings demonstrating the value of this outcomes-focused approach in measuring real impact.

The NLPU is now actively investigating how best to fully integrate the UK Government's GCS Evaluation Cycle methodology into all future NLPU campaigns, ensuring consistency with government evaluation standards whilst providing clearer evidence of return on investment and strategic value to stakeholders.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Every single day, The National Lottery makes a massive positive impact on people's lives in villages, towns, and cities across the UK, helping communities and organisations to thrive.

Through bespoke campaigns and initiatives designed to showcase The National Lottery's role in national life, and to thank players for their all-important contribution, the NLPU worked closely with the wider National Lottery family in 2024-25 to drive home the relevance and positivity of good causes funded.

The NLPU worked with each distributor to support and amplify the pan-National Lottery message, with a digital focus at the forefront.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

SPORTING SUCCESS:

NLPU sports campaigns 2024-25 overview

The NLPU's sports campaigns focus on major events in the sporting calendar, utilising them as powerful platforms to demonstrate to National Lottery players how their funding makes a tangible, positive difference to sport at all levels—from grassroots to elite.

PART TWO

CHANGING THE GAME

54,000+ PIECES OF MEDIA COVERAGE GENERATED

1.16M VIDEO VIEWS GOING FOR GOLD:

2.66B

110,700

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Paris 2024 Campaign Overview

The NLPU's Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games campaign delivered exceptional results, building on the foundations laid throughout 2023-24. Over a six-month period, the team generated more than 54,000 pieces of media coverage, reaching 2.66 billion people across national and regional print, online, and broadcast media. This represented a remarkable 40% increase in coverage and an 86% uplift in reach compared to the Tokyo 2020 campaign.

The NLPU approached the Paris 2024 Games with clear objectives:

• Increase awareness of the scale and success of National Lottery funding to sport – at both high performance and grassroots levels – across the UK

• Enhance positivity towards The National Lottery brand through this awareness

• Demonstrate a measurable impact on consideration to play The National Lottery amongst players and non-players

These objectives directly supported the NLPU's strategic aims of increasing awareness of funding impact and enhancing brand positivity.

Campaign Strategy & Execution

The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games presented a significant opportunity to promote The National Lottery brand and highlight the substantial investment made throughout the UK sporting landscape. The NLPU's strategic approach generated an impressive drumbeat of media coverage and digital content, effectively communicating to National Lottery players the crucial role they played in supporting GB athletes while simultaneously highlighting investment into grassroots sport.

The campaign was meticulously structured around key milestone moments. Additional sporting events were leveraged throughout the year as media hooks to showcase the clear link between National Lottery investment and sporting success

To maximise impact, the NLPU secured three strategic editorial partnerships with national publications:

• The Metro — achieving 13 pieces (9 print and 4 online) with a reach of 13.61 million

• The Daily Mail — achieving 15 pieces (8 print and 7 online) with a reach of 141.6 million

• The Sun — achieving 19 pieces (10 print and 9 online) with a reach of 54 million

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Digital Innovation & Engagement

Social and digital media played a key role in the campaign's success. Working closely with national governing bodies, athletes, and the wider sporting community, the NLPU reached new audiences and delivered impressive results:

The campaign hit a significant milestone with its Games-time content becoming the top-performing organic activation of the year. Digital collaborations on Instagram with British Athletics and featured athletes generated 13.4 million impressions, successfully accessing new audiences through partner channels.

16M IMPRESSIONS

110,700 ENGAGEMENTS

1.16M VIDEO VIEWS

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Campaign Highlights

The NLPU's first ad-funded documentary – "The Path to Paris" on Channel 4, co-funded and delivered with Allwyn in partnership with British Athletics – generated 160 pieces of coverage with a reach exceeding 175.3 million. The documentary garnered coverage across major media outlets including ITV's Lorraine, Sky News, BBC Radio 5Live, The Telegraph, Daily Mirror, and many more.

Squad announcements, athlete interviews during kitting out, and 'where it all started' features were syndicated to media with National Lottery messaging, achieving coverage in numerous national and regional publications. Two earned editorial preview supplements for Reach PLC were secured at no additional cost, featuring National Lottery messaging and branding throughout. The Olympic supplement appeared in The Daily Mirror while the Paralympic supplement featured in 30 regional Reach PLC city titles.

Collaborative Approach

Social-first digital partnerships with key governing bodies offered audiences insight into the experiences of National Lottery funded athletes. Collaborations with British Boxing, British Athletics, Aquatics GB, British Cycling and British Gymnastics were essential to organically reach larger audiences, achieving 301,000 impressions, 225,000 reach and 203,000 video views through both organic and paid content.

Looking Ahead

The NLPU aims to maintain momentum in Olympic and Paralympic sport as it looks ahead to LA 2028. Working with UK Sport, Allwyn and partners to nurture relationships with sporting bodies, athletes and media will position the team well to build on these impressive results for the next Olympic and Paralympic Games.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

THIS GIRL CAN: 10th Birthday Celebration

January 2025 marked a significant milestone for the National Lottery supported "This Girl Can" campaign as it celebrated its 10th birthday. Over the past decade, the campaign—powered by £30 million in National Lottery funding through Sport England—has inspired women and girls across the nation to get active regardless of shape, size, ability or background. The 10th anniversary celebrations highlighted this remarkable journey and the campaign's continued impact in tackling the gender activity gap.

Anniversary Campaign Overview

To mark this momentous occasion, the NLPU collaborated with a creative agency and Sport England to showcase inspirational stories from women whose lives have been transformed by the campaign over the past decade. The approach centred around three powerful case studies that demonstrated the breadth of activities, backgrounds and localities reached by This Girl Can.

155M

TOTAL VERIFIED AUDIENCE REACH

STRATEGIC MEDIA COVERAGE PIECES ACROSS TV, PRINT, RADIO AND ONLINE

12.3M

TV VIEWERS REACHED VIA BBC BREAKFAST

136M

ONLINE READERSHIP

6.15M

RADIO LISTENERSHIP

318,000

PRINT CIRCULATION

28,928

SOCIAL MEDIA IMPRESSIONS

699

SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENTS

21,636

VIDEO VIEWS

2.4%

ENGAGEMENT RATE (OUTPERFORMING 1-2% INDUSTRY STANDARD)

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Traditional Media Coverage

The anniversary campaign achieved impressive visibility across traditional media platforms, with detailed audience reach figures for each coverage piece:

• BBC Breakfast:

The feature segment on BBC Breakfast included a live interview with Sport England's Kate Dale and campaign participant Sam Mollaghan, reaching approximately 12.3 million viewers nationwide. This was complemented by a pre-recorded feature with Sacha Lumly for BBC digital platforms, contributing to the online audience figures.

• Print and Online Media:

• Daily Telegraph (print): Reached a circulation of 318,000 readers

• The Telegraph (online): Contributed to the total online readership of 136 million

• Voice Online: Further extended the digital reach among diverse audiences

• connectsport: Added to the specialist sports media coverage

• Radio Coverage:

• BBC Radio 5 Live: Two separate segments reaching a significant portion of the station's listenership

• BBC Radio Solent: Regional coverage targeting local communities

• Combined radio audience: 6.15 million listeners across all broadcasts

Overall Media Impact: The 9 pieces of strategic media coverage generated a verified total audience of 155 million. This breaks down into 12.3 million TV viewers, 136 million online readership, 6.15 million radio listenership, and 318,000 print circulation, providing exceptional visibility for the campaign's 10th anniversary celebrations.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Digital Media Performance

The NLPU's digital strategy focused on earned channels in collaboration with Sport England:

• Social Content: The team delivered three social-first case study videos across This Girl Can channels, which were used across 10 different posts.

• Engagement: The content generated 28,928 impressions and 699 engagements, achieving an engagement rate of 2.4% - outperforming typical industry standards of 1-2% and demonstrating strong audience resonance with the content.

• Video Performance: The videos achieved 21,636 views, with an estimated lifetime social view count of 69,100.

• Platform Performance: Most of the engagement came from Instagram, including 39 comments and 339 likes.

Looking Forward

The 10th anniversary celebration successfully positioned The National Lottery at the heart of This Girl Can's journey, highlighting how National Lottery players' contributions—raising around £30 million weekly for Good Causes—have been instrumental in making this transformative campaign possible. Through creative content delivery across owned and earned channels, the NLPU ensured The National Lottery received appropriate recognition for its vital role in this game-changing initiative.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

CHANGING THE GAME:

Celebrating 30 Years Of National Lottery Transformation In The UK

7,767 PIECES OF MEDIA COVERAGE GENERATED 2.17B

CUMULATIVE REACH ACROSS THE UK AND NORTHERN IRELAND

30 GAME CHANGERS SHOWCASED, QUOTED 137 TIMES IN PRINT, ONLINE AND BROADCAST

7 INSTALLATIONS ACROSS ALL FOUR NATIONS OF THE UK

TALENT COLLABORATIONS QUOTED 504 TIMES IN MEDIA

18.7M FOLLOWERS REACHED THROUGH COLLABORATORS' SOCIAL MEDIA

30 GAME CHANGING MOMENTS FROM ACROSS THE UK CAPTURED THROUGH STRIKING PHOTOGRAPHY

TRENDED AT #4 ON X (FORMERLY TWITTER) ON 19TH NOVEMBER

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

30 Years Of Changing Lives

A key focus for the NLPU in 2024 was leading on and delivering the ambitious 30th Birthday Programme, working in close collaboration with National Lottery family members and some of the UK's leading creative agencies.

This milestone birthday represented a landmark opportunity to celebrate the incredible positive impact The National Lottery has made, and continues to make, to the lives of people and communities throughout the nation.

The Game Changer Campaign

In Autumn 2024, the NLPU launched the powerful "Game Changer" campaign to recognise the extraordinary impact of 30 years of good cause funding on national life. The campaign was designed with clear strategic objectives:

• Make the impact of The National Lottery impossible to ignore across the UK

• Start a national conversation and foster regional pride

• Showcase the full breadth of National Lottery funding

• Create an emotional connection resonating across multiple demographics

• Celebrate not just the past 30 years, but also look ahead to future impact

• Unite and speak to the entire National Lottery family, including all distribution and recipient organisations

Collaborative Engagement Strategy

The NLPU recognised that The National Lottery family and its grant recipients possess enormous organic reach. A key challenge was to harness this potential through strategic engagement. The team developed both templated and bespoke content enabling the entire National Lottery family, including thousands of beneficiary organisations, to leverage a powerful campaign platform showcasing the transformative impact of funding.

The creative concept invited organisations to spotlight their own milestones and achievements, illustrating how funding has helped them change perspectives, open opportunities, enrich culture and improve lives. By placing emphasis on their stories, rather than solely on those of The National Lottery, the NLPU significantly boosted engagement and participation.

To facilitate this, the team produced a comprehensive toolkit of assets and guidelines (available at www.itsagamechanger.org.uk), designed to empower organisations to tell their stories confidently, compellingly and crucially, consistently. This resource helped organisations connect more effectively with their audiences while contributing to a wider narrative about the collective impact of National Lottery funding on UK communities.

The campaign saw widespread enthusiastic participation. On 19 November 2024 alone, more than 2,000 individual organisations used the #NationalLottery30 hashtag, which trended across the UK for 12 hours, reaching the number 4 spot on X.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Recognising Inspirational Individuals

In the first phase of the public-facing campaign, the NLPU celebrated 30 inspirational individuals who have achieved extraordinary things across the UK over the past three decades, thanks to National Lottery funding. Nominated by members of the public and selected by a panel comprising representatives from across The National Lottery family and its partners, the Game Changers represented the best of what National Lottery support has made possible, from community transformation to artistic innovation, from heritage conservation to sporting excellence.

In September and October 2024, 28 of these Game Changers were honoured through four powerful public installations, each themed around a key area of National Lottery investment: Community, Heritage, Sports, and Arts & Film. The final two Game Changers were revealed during The National Lottery’s Big Bash, broadcast on ITV on New Year’s Eve.

The installations brought the Game Changers' remarkable stories to life in unforgettable ways, ensuring their impact was both seen and felt. Each piece of artwork captured not only the achievements of the individuals but also the lasting value of the funding that had enabled their journeys.

30 Years

Of Game Changing Moments

To mark the anniversary date itself (19 November 2024) and the transformative impact of Good Causes funding announced, the NLPU set out to emotionally reconnect the public with the role The National Lottery has played in shaping UK cultural life over three decades.

At the heart of the campaign was a photography exhibition unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery and online. It featured 30 iconic, culturally defining moments made possible by National Lottery support, from Jessica Ennis-Hill's Super Saturday to Chloe Kelly's Euros-winning goal, from the Angel of the North to The King's Speech.

To bring these stories to life, the NLPU partnered with photographer and influencer Thomas Duke, known for his @steppingthroughfilm project. Duke travelled the UK, recreating these moments in his distinctive style, aligning archival images with their original locations to blend past and present.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

To honour these stories, ahead of the Lottery's 30th birthday, the NLPU hosted an exclusive preview event for stakeholders and the media at the National Portrait Gallery on 14th November. Guests heard from Minister for Gambling and Heritage and Lords Minister for DCMS, Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State at DCMS; Darren Henley, CEO of Arts Council England; actor and founder of Our Dementia Choir, Vicky McClure; Artistic Director of Television Workshop, Alison Rashley; and Allwyn CEO, Andria Vidler.

To deepen the emotional resonance, the NLPU brought some of these stories to life on film, featuring the individuals behind them. Michael Sheen revisited The Passion of Port Talbot, Vicky McClure explored This is England, Chloe Kelly relived the Women's Euros final, and Jessica Ennis-Hill reflected on her Super Saturday glory. These videos aimed to bring to light how one achievement could inspire the next and how legacy was built over time.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

The Next Generation Of Game Changers

The NLPU will launch "The Next Generation of Game Changers" in Summer 2025, spotlighting the vital role young people want to play in shaping public life, underpinned by original research and expert insight.

At the core of this phase will be compelling research, based on the views of 5,000 young adults, revealing their appetite for social impact, community commitment, and ideas for change. Their voices will shape a powerful narrative about what this generation stands for—and what they're ready to do.

The campaign will be fronted by stage and screen actor, Layton Williams, who has a genuine connection to youth causes and a strong, authentic voice. To further strengthen credibility and reach, the NLPU is also partnering with a leading academic expert on Generation Z, Chloe Combi, increasing the campaign's appeal to broadsheet outlets and analytical platforms.

As with previous campaigns, the NLPU will encourage the wider National Lottery family and grant recipients to use this platform to engage key audiences with the work they do with and for young adults, continuing the powerful legacy of The National Lottery's transformative impact across the United Kingdom.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Comprehensive Evaluation Approach

The landmark 30th Birthday campaign represented a significant investment in celebrating The National Lottery's transformative impact, necessitating a robust evaluation framework to measure its effectiveness. The NLPU implemented a comprehensive evaluation strategy that examined both immediate campaign performance and longer-term attitudinal and behavioural outcomes, moving beyond traditional output metrics to demonstrate realworld impact.

Initial evaluation findings show remarkable success, with the campaign awareness amongst 34% of UK adults. More significantly, those exposed to the campaign demonstrated significantly higher brand favourability, increased consideration to play, and stronger perceptions of National Lottery funding relevance. The evaluation captured valuable insights into stakeholder mobilisation, with over 2,000 organisations participating on the campaign's peak day, demonstrating the power of collaborative storytelling across the National Lottery family.

This evaluation approach, aligned with best practice evaluation standards, assessed the campaign's success across multiple dimensions including awareness generation, sentiment shift, stakeholder engagement, and consideration to play. The ongoing evaluation work will conclude in Autumn 2025, providing comprehensive insights that will inform future campaign development and strategic planning, ensuring continued improvement in the NLPU's promotional effectiveness whilst demonstrating clear value for investment.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

SOUND OF SUCCESS:

Game Changers Podcast Elevates National Lottery Stories

92,000+ DOWNLOADS – DOUBLE THE PREVIOUS SEASON'S FIGURES

57,000 SUBSCRIBERS – A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE FROM 33,000 IN 2022

4th IN APPLE'S UK SOCIETY AND CULTURE CHART

22nd IN APPLE'S OVERALL UK PODCAST CHARTS

200,000+ SOCIAL MEDIA IMPRESSIONS

174,000 VIDEO VIEWS

120,000+ SOCIAL MEDIA REACH

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

PODCAST SERIES REACHES NEW HEIGHTS

The NLPU's award-winning podcast series returned for its third season in 2024 with a strategic rebrand and dynamic new presenter, delivering record-breaking audience engagement.

'Amazing Starts Here' was rebranded as 'Game Changers' to align with the 30th Birthday campaign's creative concept. TV presenter, author and former Team GB Winter Olympian, Aimee Fuller, stepped into the presenter's role, replacing Strictly Come Dancing-bound Sam Quek.

COMPELLING CONTENT STRATEGY

The carefully crafted eight-episode series featured a selection of the 30th Birthday Game Changers alongside exclusive insights into the creation of the NLPU's breathtaking activations, offering listeners unprecedented behind-the-scenes access through interviews with the artists responsible. The production was further enhanced by contributions from high-profile celebrity ambassadors including Sir Tony Robinson, Clare Balding and Adele Roberts, adding compelling layers to each eagerly anticipated instalment.

INTEGRATED MULTI-PLATFORM PROMOTION

The NLPU implemented a sophisticated distribution strategy, placing each episode on popular podcasting platforms with the aim of driving downloads, subscriptions and listener engagement. This was reinforced by a robust social media promotion plan focused on owned channels, featuring optimised short-form video content on platforms including TikTok, as well as strategic collaboration posts with the host, guests, their projects and National Lottery distributors.

Working in partnership with production company Listen, the NLPU created 18 pieces of bespoke short-form video content specifically designed to promote the series across different digital channels, maximising reach and engagement.

PART TWO

CHANGING

THE GAME

DOORS WIDE OPEN:

Record-Breaking Success For National Lottery Open Week 2025

316

PIECES OF EARNED MEDIA WITH A REACH OF NEARLY 898 MILLION

834

TOTAL OFFERS AVAILABLE TO PLAYERS (63% INCREASE FROM 512 IN 2024)

1.3M

WEBSITE PAGE VIEWS DURING OPEN WEEK (48% INCREASE FROM 2024)

103,125

TOTAL FOOTFALL ACROSS 141 ORGANISATIONS THAT RECORDED VISITOR NUMBERS – 84% INCREASE ON 2024

BFI REPORTED

11,319

TICKETS BOOKED FOR "THE PENGUIN LESSONS" SCREENING – THEIR MOST SUCCESSFUL "ESCAPES" SCREENING EVER

ULSTER FOLK AND TRANSPORT MUSEUMS EXPERIENCED THEIR "MOST SUCCESSFUL EVER HERITAGE WEEKEND" WITH 6,645

COMBINED VISITORS (COMPARED TO USUAL 600-700 WEEKEND VISITORS)

WORD OF MOUTH IS THE LEADING SOURCE OF AWARENESS WHICH CORRELATES WITH AN INCREASE IN UGC ON SOCIAL MEDIA THIS YEAR

OPEN WEEK CAMPAIGN AWARENESS REMAINS BROADLY CONSTANT AMONGST ALL PLAYERS AT 22% (2023 v 2025) BUT AWARENESS AMONGST INFREQUENT PLAYERS SHOWS SIGNIFICANT INCREASE FROM 10% TO 19%

AWARENESS OF OPEN WEEK INCREASES CONSIDERATION FOR ALL PLAYER TYPES BUT MOST SIGNIFICANTLY 65%

OF LAPSED/NON PLAYERS WHO ARE AWARE OF OPEN WEEK WOULD CONSIDER PLAYING TNL GAMES AS A RESULT OF BEING EXPOSED TO OPEN WEEK COMMUNICATIONS

OPEN WEEK ACTIVITY REFLECTS WELL ON TNL BRAND WITH 65%

OF THOSE AWARE OF THE CAMPAIGN FEELING POSITIVE TOWARDS THE NATIONAL LOTTERY, PARTICULARLY AMONGST WEEKLY PLAYERS

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

National Lottery Open Week: Gratitude In Action

The NLPU delivered an exceptional National Lottery Open Week campaign in 2025, creating a powerful platform for National Lottery-funded venues to thank players who collectively raise £30 million every week for Good Causes. By orchestrating free entry, discounts, and special experiences across the UK, the NLPU strengthened the vital connection between playing The National Lottery and supporting valuable community assets.

The 2025 campaign, running from 1523 March, marked a record-breaking year with over 800 offers made available nationwide—a remarkable 63% increase from the 512 offers in 2024. This impressive expansion exceeded expectations and delivered on the NLPU's core objective: making The National Lottery feel more relevant by showcasing funding at a local level and engaging with people's diverse passions and interests.

Nationwide Participation

Projects from Orkney to Cornwall opened their doors in appreciation for the funding they've received through National Lottery players. The NLPU successfully orchestrated collaborations with an extensive network of high-profile partners—including the National Trust, English Heritage, Historic Royal Palaces, RSPB, and the National Trust for Scotland—to reinforce the public perception linking playing The National Lottery with supporting meaningful causes across the UK.

Integrated Communications Strategy

The campaign was powered by a robust multi-channel PR and paid media effort, delivered through close partnership between the NLPU, Allwyn and National Lottery distributors. Popular comedian Ellie Taylor fronted the earned media campaign, securing valuable coverage on BBC Morning Live and features in major national publications including the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, and The Sun.

The NLPU implemented a comprehensive social media strategy to amplify reach, strategically leveraging partner and influencer channels to engage new audiences. Bespoke content was developed for Ellie Taylor's Instagram and complemented by six carefully selected influencer partnerships, each targeting distinct audience segments. National Lottery-owned channels were also activated to enhance visibility across the entire ecosystem.

Working alongside the Operator, the NLPU ensured Open Week became the headline feature for March 2025 through the partnership with News UK—a platform reaching 28.2 million people monthly, equivalent to six in ten UK adults. This collaboration generated numerous mentions on Virgin Radio's Chris Evans Breakfast Show and featured compelling content from participating venues including the Silverstone Museum and the National Trust for Scotland.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

STRATEGIC IMPACT

Post-campaign research confirmed that awareness of Open Week contributed significantly to more positive perceptions of playing The National Lottery and strengthened belief that it supports meaningful and relevant causes. Importantly, awareness of the campaign was shown to increase consideration of National Lottery games for both current and lapsed/non-players, with the most substantial impact on new player acquisition.

Through the strategic execution of National Lottery Open Week 2025, the NLPU successfully showcased the tangible benefits of National Lottery funding at local and national levels while creating direct value for players. The campaign's record-breaking results demonstrate the power of connecting players with the good causes they support, reinforcing the virtuous circle at the heart of The National Lottery's purpose.

This campaign directly supported all the NLPU's strategic objectives: increasing awareness of funding impact, enhancing positivity towards The National Lottery, reaching wide audiences, and championing One National Lottery best practice.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

THE NUMBERS THAT CHANGE LIVES:

Data To Tell The National Lottery Story

Data Project Impact Highlights:

• Enhanced quality and functionality of the National Lottery Grants database

• Developed an initial batch of 410 compelling Good Cause Summaries for Allwyn

• Compiled 100 facts about funding impacts (refined to 30 key insights) for the 30th Birthday

• Implemented new features allowing geographic analysis by constituency in devolved nations

Transforming The National Lottery's Data Landscape

The NLPU data team has continued to lead transformative family-wide progress through the National Lottery Data Forum, pursuing a clear and ambitious vision for data that is useful, usable and in use, adding significant value across the entire One National Lottery ecosystem.

Enhancing The Grants Database

An initial focus of the NLPU's data strategy centred on elevating the quality and functionality of the National Lottery Grants database. Working collaboratively across distributors and with specialist support from 360 Giving and DCMS, the team has made significant advances in enhancing the quality of historical data. Ambiguity, uncertainty and errors have been substantially reduced, markedly increasing the intrinsic value of the data both for the NLPU and other stakeholders.

The second phase of the database development project, has seen the NLPU partner with DCMS to extend functionality, making interaction significantly more intuitive for both users and providers of grants data. The team has implemented innovative features that maintain accurate geographic tagging of grant data even as the UK's administrative geography evolves over time.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Strategic Development

Early in the year, data consultancy firm Cynozure completed their comprehensive commission from the National Lottery Forum to explore options for the future of One National Lottery data provision. Their research identified key challenges facing the family and proposed several strategic next steps to address them. Following rigorous scrutiny and restructuring by the National Lottery Forum, the NLPU is now progressing to the next phase of this work to develop a comprehensive One National Lottery data strategy that will deliver long-term benefits across the organisation.

Good Cause Summaries: Bringing Stories To Life

The NLPU has provided project leadership for Good Cause Summaries, orchestrating work across all distributors to develop an initial batch of 410 compelling stories for Allwyn to leverage across their communications channels.

To ensure appropriate governance of this high-profile initiative, the team has developed robust oversight arrangements, working in close partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF) legal team to draft a comprehensive memorandum of understanding between Allwyn, distributors and the NLPU. This MoU clearly defines roles and responsibilities around good cause summaries and is complemented by carefully crafted consent forms and documented safeguarding principles. These essential documents are currently progressing through the consultation phase.

By year end, the NLPU had commissioned the development of a sophisticated web-based user interface and database to streamline the creation, management and storage of good cause summaries by distributors in a central repository, facilitating efficient sharing with Allwyn. A working prototype was successfully delivered for initial testing by the end of the financial year, with the full system scheduled for launch in early 2025/26.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Data Storytelling: Numbers Into Narrative

The NLPU's data journalist works on data storytelling for both campaign support and feature writing. His work focuses on two key questions: "Where has the money gone?" and "What has it achieved?" These stories showcase the positive impacts of National Lottery funding across the UK.

During the year, he produced six data-driven feature stories with detailed analyses. The work involved processing datasets, finding insights, conducting interviews that give human context to the numbers, writing for specific audiences, and creating data visualisations.

Data stories are a newer addition to the NLPU's communications. For the 30th Birthday campaign, the data journalist reviewed the National Lottery's 30-year history to compile 100 facts about funding impacts, which he refined to 30 key insights. Some of these were used to update the 1994-2025 timeline on the Good Causes website.

He also contributed 55 Good Cause Summaries and developed initial concepts for future data storytelling projects, which were shared at the Data Forum.

Through these strategic data initiatives, the NLPU continues to strengthen the connection between National Lottery players and the tangible good their participation creates across the UK, ensuring that the full impact of National Lottery funding is clearly communicated and widely understood.

This data work supports multiple strategic objectives, particularly increasing awareness of the breadth, scale, and impact of National Lottery funding, and championing One National Lottery best practice.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT:

Public Affairs

Public Affairs Impact Highlights:

• Enhanced quality and functionality of the National Lottery Grants database

• A dedicated Public Affairs Lead role strengthened UK-wide political engagement during the 30th Birthday campaign

• Hosted a Westminster drop-in event attracting 120+ Members of Parliament

• Delivered impactful events at Stormont (Northern Ireland), the Senedd (Wales) and Holyrood (Scotland)

• Unveiled comprehensive 30-year constituency grant data to parliamentarians

• Strengthened relationships with DCMS, ministers, and MPs across all four UK nations, including elected representatives from the devolved Governments in the nations.

Establishing The Public Affairs Function

As part of its strategic approach to the National Lottery's landmark 30th birthday year, the NLPU created a dedicated Public Affairs Lead role to strengthen engagement with elected representatives across all four UK nations. This new position was established to enhance political understanding of the National Lottery's

transformative impact, with the role holder bringing valuable parliamentary networks and expertise to the wider promotional efforts.

The Public Affairs Lead has played a crucial role in managing external relationships with key parliamentarians and representative bodies, effectively communicating how National Lottery funding changes lives through the £30 million raised weekly for good causes across the UK. Working closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), ministers, and MPs, the role has been instrumental in presenting the National Lottery's work in an impactful way while delivering a revised government relations strategy.

Operating with a UK-wide remit, the Public Affairs Lead has worked proactively with multiple teams and senior stakeholders across the twelve National Lottery distributors, Allwyn as the operator, DCMS, and the Gambling Commission to ensure consistent messaging and maximise political engagement opportunities.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Parliamentary Outreach Programme

The NLPU orchestrated a highly successful parliamentary engagement strategy in 2024-25, creating meaningful opportunities for key stakeholders to witness the transformative power of National Lottery funding across all four nations of the UK.

On 15 October 2024, the NLPU hosted a landmark drop-in event at Westminster that drew more than 120 Members of Parliament—a remarkable attendance that demonstrated the widespread political interest in National Lottery funding. This strategically timed event provided a crucial platform for re-establishing relationships with parliamentary stakeholders following the July 2024 General Election.

The Westminster event brought together representatives from across the National Lottery family, including Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Community Fund, Sport England, UK Sport, Sport Wales, Arts Council Wales, Allwyn, and the Gambling Commission. Each organisation had the opportunity to engage directly with MPs, highlighting the impact of their work in constituencies nationwide.

As part of the event, the NLPU unveiled comprehensive 30-year constituency grant data, effectively illustrating the National Lottery's transformational impact in local communities since the inaugural draw in 1994. This powerful demonstration of hyper-local impact resonated strongly with MPs, many of whom were surprised by

the scale and breadth of National Lottery investment in their constituencies.

Beyond celebrating historical achievements, the event served as a valuable platform to inform parliamentarians about funding opportunities available to their constituents, strengthening connections between MPs, their communities, and the National Lottery funding ecosystem.

PART TWO CHANGING THE GAME

Devolved Nations Engagement

Recognising the importance of political engagement across all nations of the UK, the NLPU coordinated a series of high-profile events in the devolved parliaments as part of the National Lottery's 30th Birthday celebrations.

Working in close partnership with distributors and Allwyn, the NLPU delivered impactful events at:

• Stormont (Northern Ireland) on 4 March

• The Senedd (Wales) on 19 March

• Holyrood (Scotland) on 21 May

The NLPU provided comprehensive support for each event, supplying branded materials and creative assets developed as part of the 30th Birthday campaign. This ensured consistent messaging and visual identity across all parliamentary engagements while allowing for regional relevance and customisation.

These carefully orchestrated events showcased how National Lottery funding, alongside the vital work of its distributors, has helped shape communities and transform lives throughout each of the devolved nations. By engaging directly with devolved parliaments, the NLPU strengthened political understanding of and support for the National Lottery's impact on a truly national level, reinforcing its status as a treasured institution benefiting communities in every corner of the United Kingdom.

PART THREE

FINANCIAL PROFILE

The NLPU Management Board determines the budget on an annual basis. In 2024/25, the NLPU worked to a budget of £4,999,924.

The operator is liable for one third of the budget with the remaining two thirds deducted from the contribution payable to the Secretary of State. Payments to the NLPU which the Licensee is required to make are covered under Condition 13.6 of The Fourth National Lottery Licence.

INCOME:

£4,999,924

EXPENDITURE: £4,813,625

UNDERSPEND: £186,229

As part of ongoing strategic planning, the NLPU continues to work with stakeholders to optimise resource allocation and demonstrate clear return on investment. The current organisational review will examine budgetary effectiveness and propose recommendations for enhanced value delivery whilst maintaining fiscal responsibility and transparency.

CAMPAIGN BUDGETS

NATIONAL LOTTERY 30TH BIRTHDAY: £2,500,000

SPORT: £500,000

OPEN WEEK: £286,497

NATIONAL LOTTERY AWARDS: £390,000

CHANNELS: £50,000

EVALUATION AND DATA: £255,000

STAFFING, OPERATIONAL & ADMINISTRATION COSTS: £1,018,427

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

Planning Ahead: 2024–27 Strategic Framework and

Objectives

Vision

The NLPU has developed its Strategic Framework for 2024-27. By 2027, working alongside the whole National Lottery family, the vision is to showcase the extraordinary positive impact good causes funding has across every corner of the UK, to increase overall levels of consideration to play, awareness of good cause funding and positivity towards the National Lottery brand.

Target objectives:

1. Grow consideration to play The National Lottery amongst players and non-players, through delivering campaigns;

2. Increase awareness of the breadth, scale and impact of National Lottery funding at a local and national level;

3. Increase positivity towards The National Lottery brand.

Enabling objectives:

1. Reach defined target audiences in the UK in telling that story at scale and;

2. Align with the operator and distributors on specific consumer campaigns to support One National Lottery’s business objectives.

The activities for 2024–27 are encompassed by the four Management Board priorities identified which are:

1. Data

• Work alongside TNL family to enhance data insights and data storytelling;

• Create an effective flow of data across the family;

• Continuously improve mechanisms across the family to supply Allwyn’s CRM-based comms with content;

• Evolve The National Lottery database to provide a coherent and insightful aggregated view of grants data.

2. Digital

• Deliver an ambitious digital strategy through high impact partnerships aimed at hard-to-reach younger audiences;

• Grow content creation of owned channels across TNL family to increase reach, particularly of new and hyperlocal audiences;

• Innovate and share best practice.

3. Grant Acknowledgement

• Champion One National Lottery & support internal communications across the family;

• Work with family & operator to strengthen brand acknowledgement by grantees;

• Optimise value of Allwyn’s CRM-based comms for grant acknowledgement.

4. Impact

• Help to showcase the value of TNL funding to external audiences through better data storytelling;

• Strengthen the use of impact assessment across the family;

• Establish an impact-based framework of One National Lottery value-for-money KPIs.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

Organisational Development And Continuous Improvement

Strategic Review and Organisational Enhancement

As part of its commitment to continuous improvement and strategic alignment with the Fourth National Lottery Licence objectives, the NLPU is currently undertaking a comprehensive organisational review. This review, commissioned by Allwyn and conducted by independent consultants, will examine current ways of working, governance structures, and operational effectiveness to ensure the unit remains optimally positioned to deliver its strategic objectives.

The review process includes extensive stakeholder consultation across the National Lottery family, analysis of current roles and responsibilities, and development of recommendations for enhanced collaboration and operational efficiency. Expected to conclude in 2025, this strategic review will inform future organisational development and ensure the NLPU continues to evolve in response to the changing communications landscape and stakeholder needs.

Evaluation Framework Evolution and Implementation of UK Government Standards

In parallel with the organisational review, the NLPU is exploring how to implement the UK Government's Government Communication Service (GCS) Evaluation Cycle methodology across all its campaigns. This represents a strategic shift towards outcomes-based evaluation, moving away from traditional outputfocused metrics to embrace the official government framework for measuring communication effectiveness.

The UK Government's GCS Evaluation Cycle is the established methodology designed specifically for government communicators to evaluate campaigns and communication activities. This comprehensive six-stage approach encompasses evidence-based planning, audience experience measurement, perception analysis, behaviour assessment, impact evaluation, and continuous learning. The framework enables communicators to demonstrate clear causal links between communication activities and strategic

outcomes, providing robust evidence of value for money and effectiveness aligned with government best practice.

The NLPU is actively investigating practical ways to integrate this government methodology into National Lottery promotional activities, recognising that implementation will enable more sophisticated analysis of return on investment and stakeholder impact. This transition from volume-based metrics such as media coverage alone to meaningful indicators of behavioural change and strategic contribution represents a fundamental evolution in how the NLPU measures campaign success.

The integration of the UK Government's GCS Evaluation Cycle methodology into all future NLPU campaigns will ensure consistent professional standards whilst enabling the organisation to demonstrate clear accountability and evidence-based planning in line with contemporary government communication practice.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

30th Birthday Campaign Evaluation and Implementation Study

The success of the landmark 30th Birthday campaign has prompted a comprehensive evaluation that is serving as a pilot study for implementing the UK Government's GCS Evaluation Cycle methodology within NLPU operations. This extensive evaluation work examines how the government's official communication evaluation framework can be applied to National Lottery promotional activities, moving beyond traditional output metrics to focus on meaningful outcomes and behavioural impact.

The evaluation is exploring practical ways to integrate the six-stage GCS methodology - encompassing evidencebased planning through to continuous learning - into National Lottery campaign assessment. Initial findings from this implementation study demonstrate significant potential, with campaign awareness of 34% amongst UK adults correlating with measurably increased brand positivity, enhanced consideration to play, and stronger emotional connections with National Lottery-funded projects.

This pilot evaluation represents the NLPU's commitment to exploring how UK Government evaluation standards can enhance promotional impact assessment. The insights gained from implementing GCS methodology principles on the 30th Birthday campaign will directly inform the development of new evaluation frameworks for all future NLPU activities, ensuring alignment with government best practice whilst demonstrating clear accountability and strategic value creation across the National Lottery family.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

COMING UP

A MONUMENTAL YEAR FOR WOMEN'S SPORT: 2025-2026 Sport Campaign

Building on the success of the NLPU's Olympic and Paralympic campaigns, the 2025-26 sports initiative will showcase outstanding sporting achievements across the UK, with a special focus on women's competitions. This comprehensive campaign will harness the momentum of major sporting events to demonstrate the significant impact of National Lottery funding at both elite and grassroots levels.

Key Events Timeline

The NLPU and partners, including the National Lottery operator, Allwyn, are proposing to target the following events:

• UEFA Women's Euros (2nd-27th July 2025) — Switzerland

• England and Wales representing the home nations

• Women's Rugby World Cup (22nd August-27th September 2025) — England

• England, Scotland, and Wales have qualified to compete

• (Northern Irish players compete for Ireland)

• World Athletics Championships (13th-21st September 2025) — Tokyo, Japan

• Supporting both male and female athletes representing Team GB

• Winter Olympic Games (6th-22nd February 2026) — Milan-Cortina, Italy

• Supporting both male and female athletes representing Team GB

• Winter Paralympic Games (6th-15th March 2026) — Milan-Cortina, Italy

• Supporting both male and female athletes representing Paralympics GB

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

Campaign Approach

The NLPU plans to develop a multi-platform campaign across these events, working with high-profile ambassadors from across the sporting spectrum. Through strategic partnerships with broadcasters, national governing bodies, and sporting ambassadors, the NLPU will convey key messages to diverse audiences across all four nations, reinforcing the connection between playing The National Lottery and supporting positive change through sport.

The campaign will present clear examples of how National Lottery funding has transformed sport over the past three decades, from supporting grassroots development to enabling elite success on the international stage. This approach will both acknowledge past achievements and inspire the next generation of athletes.

National Lottery Open Week 2026

Following the record-breaking success of the 2025 campaign, National Lottery Open Week will return in March 2026. With strong foundations already established, the focus will shift toward expanding reach and deepening impact through the wider National Lottery family and partner ecosystem. The NLPU will seek new opportunities to engage even more audiences and demonstrate how National Lottery funding is making a tangible difference—right on their doorstep.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

Data Plans For 2025 And Beyond

Data Strategy

In the coming year, the NLPU will commission and deliver substantial consultancy work to shape the future One National Lottery data strategy. This work will examine major barriers to more effective data use across the family's operations and seek to build consensus on appropriate solutions.

With this strategic framework in place, the NLPU will implement a series of family-wide phased development projects to establish new ways of working. These may involve process changes, system enhancements or new system development. Throughout this work, the NLPU will ensure it understands how each distributor can benefit from proposed changes and will provide comprehensive support during implementation.

Good Cause Summaries

Allwyn is currently in a testing phase, working to optimise the use of good cause summaries. The project is anticipated to formally launch in September 2025. In the interim, the NLPU will finalise project documentation and establish governance arrangements for businessas-usual operations thereafter.

The NLPU's role in this project is expected to diminish significantly once business-as-usual processes are established, allowing resources to be directed toward other strategic priorities.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

STRENGTHENING BONDS: Public Affairs Plans 2025-26

Building on the success of its parliamentary engagement strategy in 2024-25, the NLPU will continue to develop strategic relationships with elected representatives across all four nations of the UK in the coming year.

A standout moment from 2025 was the NLPU's prestigious 30th Birthday celebration at Speaker's House. This high-profile event brought together over 150 key stakeholders, including retailers, winners, game-changers, and members from both the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Complementing this flagship event, the NLPU will produce new constituency briefing packs on a regular basis to align with the parliamentary calendar. These comprehensive information packages will provide Members of Parliament with updates on key National Lottery campaigns. Most significantly, these briefings will deliver UK-wide insights into funding raised for good causes, featuring bespoke details relevant to each MP's constituency.

Following the positive reception of parliamentary engagement activities delivered as part of the National Lottery's 30th Birthday in 2024-25, the NLPU plans to continue leading and delivering parliamentary events in Westminster and the devolved nations, working in close collaboration with all distributors and Allwyn UK.

This coordinated approach to public affairs will ensure that the profound impact of National Lottery funding remains visible to decision-makers across the political spectrum, reinforcing the vital role it plays in communities throughout the United Kingdom.

APPENDIX

THE NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTIONS UNIT STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 2024-27

VISION

MISSION

OBJECTIVES

GUIDING ONE NATIONAL LOTTERY PRINCIPLES OF NLPU

STAKEHOLDERS & EXTERNAL AUDIENCES

By 2027, working alongside the whole The TNL family, we will showcase the extraordinary positive impact Good Causes funding has across every corner of the UK, to increase overall levels of consideration to play, awareness of good cause funding and positivity towards the brand.

The National Lottery Promotions Unit (NLPU) raises positive public awareness of National Lottery funding, thereby contributing to the overall brand health of The National Lottery. We do this through storytelling by demonstrating where National Lottery funding has been delivered and showcasing the impact, particularly at a local level, across the UK. We champion One National Lottery best practise and play a lead role in co-ordinating data insights across the National Lottery family.

Target objectives: 1. Grow consideration to play The National Lottery amongst players and nonplayers, through delivering campaigns (e.g. 30th Birthday). 2. Increase awareness of the breadth, scale and impact of National Lottery funding at a local and national level; 3. Increase positivity towards The National Lottery brand; Enabling objectives: 1. Reach defined target audiences in the UK in telling that story at scale and; 2. Align with the operator and distributors on specific consumer campaigns to support One National Lottery's business objectives.

Inclusive - Diverse - Positive - Trustworthy - Solution Focused - Collaborative - Creative - Equitable

Stakeholders: All TNL funding distributors - TNL Projects And Beneficiaries - Gambling CommissionDCMS - NLPU Management Board - Operator External Audiences: TNL Players - Non-Player Consumers - Media - Wider GovernmentDevolved Governments

Strategic Framework and Plans 2023–27

Further develop family-wide planning cycles (working with Strategy Directors)

Align with Allwyn and distributor good cause priorities

Gain intelligent insight of impact of NLPU campaign work on behaviour & attitudes

NLPU business as usual activity to be delivered during this period

TNL30 & Birthday moments across family

Sport—Olympic & Paralympic and other major events

National Lottery Open Week

Deliver ambitious digital strategy through high impact partnerships aimed at hard to reach younger audiences

Grow content creation of owned channels across TNL family to increase reach, particularly of new and hyperlocal audiences

Innovate and share best practice

Work alongside TNL family to enhance data insights and data storytelling

Create an effective flow of data across the family

Continuously improve mechanisms across the family to supply Allwyn's CRM-based comms with content

Evolve The National Lottery database to provide a coherent and insightful aggregated view of grants data

Help to showcase the value of TNL funding to external audiences through better data storytelling

Strengthen the use of impact assessment across the family

Establish an impactbased framework of One National Lottery value-formoney KPis

Champion One

National Lottery & support internal communications across the family

Work with family & operator to strengthen brand acknowledgement by grantees

Optimise value of Allwyn's CRM-based comms for grant acknowledgement

Raise awareness amongst political stakeholders about the money raised by players, the return to Good Causes, TNL funding, and the distributors who distribute it

Develop The National Lottery family's political stakeholder strategy to facilitate for more engagement with elected representatives across the UK

Work alongside distributors to identify policy/legislative issues of shared strategic importance

NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTIONS UNIT 2025/26 HIGH LEVEL PLAN AND MILESTONES

Game Changers 2.0 (CrossDistributor Programme)

Consumer facing PR campaign to build on the legacy of the 2024 Game Changers and unite the family behind activity in the autumn period.

30th Birthday Programme

Celebrating 30 years of game-changing impact.

National Lottery Open Week - Annual campaign each March offering free entry and special offers to players at participating venues supported by TNL funding.

Broadcast Activity - Securing an editorially-sound, primetime series with TNL Good Causes at its heart, as part of the NLPU's broadcast strategy

Sport Campaign - The campaign aims to showcase the transformative impact of National Lottery funding on women's sport, leveraging major sporting events in 2025-2026 to engage and inspire audiences.

Bradford City of CultureShining a light on Bradford City of Culture and the role

The National Lottery has played, with the help of over £30m in investments

Data - Working to procure next round of data strategy consultancy; Seeking incremental upgrades to the DOMS database; Developing a web-based Ul for GCS to replace the Excel template and establishing the governance model for the good cause summary project under business as usual.

Public Affairs - Activity to support the delivery of a One National Lottery approach to Public Affairs focusing on key deliverables that can increase awareness of good causes.

Agree budget

Agree creative theme

Onboard agency support

Deliver campaign

Evaluation

Evaluation and Impact

Next Generation Game Changer

Internal & S/holder Engagement

Public Affairs Events

Evaluation Strategy for 2026

Campaign planning for 2026

2026 campaign delivery

Decision from Management Board On board agency

Case study sourcing and approval

Stakeholder Engagement

Agency appointment

Women's Euros 25 Campaign

Women's Rugby World Cup 25

World Athletics Championships

Winter Olympics/Paralympics 26

Delivery Team Intro

Creative themes and events

Procurement process begins On board agency

Data Strategy Consultancy

Web-Ul for GCS

GCS project governance

Incremental upgrades to DCMS DB

Public Affairs Lead Recruitment

Communication Agency

Constituency Briefing Packs Issued